Max Allegri tries to reassure Dusan Vlahovic and explain the importance of ‘game management’ after Juventus scraped a 4-2 win over Sampdoria. ‘Paul Pogba won’t be back until after the break.’
It really was a remarkable match in Turin, as it seemed to be so comfortable when Gleison Bremer and Adrien Rabiot headers put them 2-0 up.
However, rock bottom Sampdoria equalised with two goals in 72 seconds from Tommaso Augello and Filip Djuricic, seeing the team booed off at half-time.
Rabiot got his second of the game, although there were suspicions of handball, before Dusan Vlahovic missed a penalty and Matias Soule scored on the rebound in stoppages for 4-2.
“With the penalty, you either go for a dink or you pick an angle,” Allegri told DAZN.
“Vlahovic just needs to stay calm, he had a very good game, he did much better today on a technical level. Every now and then, he uses up too much energy, so he has to just take it easy. Let’s not forget he’s only been at Juventus for a year, he is doing well and has everything it takes to improve.
“Once he is able to learn that game management, he will be less hasty when the ball arrives and more clinical in finishing.”
The performance had some ups and downs, so what mood do Juve take going into the Europa League with SC Freiburg, after a slender 1-0 first leg win?
“I think the team must improve in game management. We were leading 2-0, we had to close up the spaces and go on the counter-attack. The older defenders should’ve told off the younger ones and got them back into position. These are situations you get when players haven’t had many games for Juventus.”
Despite missing Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba, Federico Chiesa, Alex Sandro and others, Allegri chose to bench Leandro Paredes in favour of youth midfielder Enzo Barrenechea.
“I made a tactical choice. Compared to Manuel Locatelli and Barrenechea, Paredes is more of a metronome. Today I needed a player like Barrenechea.
“Nicolò Fagioli is growing as an engine of the team, he provided a great ball for Vlahovic. Soule scored today as well, another player who came up from the NextGen team.”
A midfielder who is increasingly essential to Allegri’s side is Rabiot, who scored two goals this evening and is having the best season of his career.
“He is a player you enjoy watching, he has a different engine to the others. My idea today was to give Rabiot 60 minutes and Pogba 30, but then he got injured. Bremer is fine, he has a slight pain in the tendon of his left knee, while Bonucci went off because he had a knock to the tibia and will be evaluated tomorrow.
“This morning Pogba was taking free kicks and felt a twinge in his adductor. He will have tests tomorrow, but will certainly not be there on Thursday or next Sunday, so we’ll see him after the break for international duty.”
Even with the 15-point penalty, Juventus are still in the running for a Champions League spot and without that would be clear in second place.
“We have picked up 53 points and that is very important. We won’t say anything about the appeal, because that is for the club to deal with. I repeat, since the sentence arrived, we reacted well against Atalanta, thought we had solved everything and then stumbled again.
“What these lads are doing is remarkable and that is what we are working for.”